About Busara:

Busara is a non-profit research and advisory organization with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and offices in India, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Mexico. Our 130+ staff come from over 15 countries, speak more than 40 languages, and have completed projects in more than 50 countries.

Our mission is to advance and apply behavioral science in pursuit of poverty alleviation and since our beginning in 2013 have built the world’s largest behavioral science laboratory, and created applied research portfolios in agriculture, health, inclusive finance, governance and education, among others.

Along the way, Busara has become a global leader in behavioral science and serves as an exemplar of mixing science and application to solve problems of equity, access, poverty and opportunity.

Voice and Impact at Busara:

Busara’s Voice and Impact (V&I) department represents and operationalizes Busara commitment towards being vocal. V&I does so through supporting the development of a unique Busara identity that champions diverse voices and approaches in applied and interdisciplinary behavioral research. The aim is that these voices can be heard on the global stage as part of a changing knowledge ecosystem, contribute to debate, and influence practice. We think of V&I as the hub for creative and substantive science communication and information-based relationship building. Inspired by, and having learned from, Busara’s articulations on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), V&I helps to improve the quality of our research output, but does not aim to streamline a tone based on existing international standards. This means that a crucial underpinning thought to the V&I strategy is that we hone our own outputs and build our own audience, rather than trying to focus our energy solely on being granted entry into the existing publishing mechanisms. Existing publishing mechanisms (for example, international peer-reviewed journals) are disproportionately skewed towards authors with years of Global North-based education, making them exclusive or creating a set-up in which different voices are added to authorship in an-often tokenistic way.

Role Purpose Statement:

The Production Editor supports Busara as part of the Voice and Impact team. This individual will work alongside the rest of the organisation guiding teams through the editing processes of long and short form work as well as social content.

Our team comprises of researchers, project managers and business development professionals working on deepening our existing work and developing new opportunities, as such we are looking for a Production Editor Editorial Lead who can;

– Work closely with technically skilled individuals to turn their research outputs into compelling evidence backed narratives.

– Identify multiple different ways to dissect a piece of work to make it relevant to separate audiences across different geographies and fields of interest

– Ideate and implement new ways to disseminate research to a broader audience

– Interact and guide the ideation and development of engagement opportunities, including events, while considering both owned and earned media to drive awareness of Busara’s brand.

You will do this by understanding the Busara brand and communication needs as well as working closely with the research teams to craft work that educates and entices our readers. We will need you to be flexible and curious as our work spans several sectors and disciplines, from academic lab experiments to strategic consulting engagements.

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities: The Production Editor will work closely with the Voice and Impact team in completing the tasks assigned below, but may be asked to contribute to Busara’s work in various other ways:

• Edit articles, Groundworks, blog posts, aha! moments, etc, in alignment with the Busara writing style while paying close attention to narrative.
• Edit and proof-read copy for articles, reports, and other project deliverables based on client feedback or direction when necessary.
• Structure and cultivate close working relationships with Busara’s researchers in order to collaboratively produce content that satisfies both teams’ objectives.
• Write press releases and manage the Busara media database. Liaise with journalists to ensure Busara events are sufficiently covered.
• Ideate on how best to profile Busara expertise and voice on various digital and traditional platforms.
• Adapt writing style to fit with requirements and / or audiences and ensure what is written is always accurate and conveys the intended message clearly.
• Manage and coordinate project requests in concert with the Manager, Voice and Impact with a view to adding value and maximizing content.
• Act as an in-house journalist by embedding themselves with other divisions to find newsworthy stories.
• Lead and supervise the timely production and dissemination of our quarterly newsletter and annual yearbook.

Minimum Requirements: The ideal candidate writes in a way that takes the reader on an enjoyable journey and compels readers to take specific actions. The candidate has a keen eye for detail, a passion for language and putting together the perfect series of sentences to convey a message. In particular, we are looking for candidates with:

• Flawless and creative writing skills, with an ability to translate complicated concepts and project plans into easy-to-understand pieces of writing.
• Ability to write in a clear, concise style with a solid understanding of copy and editorial nuances and tonality.
• Experience in the development sector, Behavioral Science, Economics, Psychology or related fields is an added advantage.
• Experience crafting narrative non-fiction, long-form articles and opinion editorials across a range of subjects.
• Action-oriented and self-starting personality, with an ability to quickly grasp new concepts.
• Mastery of word processing applications such as Docs, Google Slides, and Sheets.
• Excellent critical thinking skills and the ability to exercise good judgment and solve problems quickly and effectively.
• Ability to plan and prioritize work to self-manage multiple projects.
• Ability to work with and inspire people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.
• Highly collaborative and passionate about working with others to bring out the best in them.

Soft Skills: We do not only hire based on technical ability; we are looking for candidates with equally strong soft skills. These are the attributes that enable us to interact effectively and harmoniously with each other, and are typically a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, attitudes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients. These soft skills enable you to navigate your environment, perform well, and achieve your goals by complementing your hard skills. Adopting an open and learning mindset is a good start, and likely to make you a great fit at Busara.

• 1 – Communication: As members of Voice and Impact, we lead by example in our interpersonal communications. We believe that having solid communication skills is the foundation of effective teamwork, the key to constructive feedback, and the only way to learn from each other. We value clarity, confidence, humility, respect, authenticity, empathy, and active listening.
• 2 – Teamwork: Teamwork allows us to operate well in a group setting and strive in the workplace, benefiting from the diversity of thought inherent to any group of individuals. We value collaboration, cooperation, coordination, idea exchange, mentoring, mediation, diplomacy, negotiation, and conflict management.
• 3 – Adaptability: We are a nimble and fast-growing organisation. As such, we are bound to embracing and rolling with change. We like to experiment and iterate based on our findings and failures; doing so effectively is one of our greatest strengths. We believe in self-confidence and self-motivation, curiosity, optimism, flexibility in the face of change and novelty, courage, conviction, and open-mindedness.
• 4 – Problem-Solving: Busara’s work is fast-paced and often faced with unexpected constraints, be it in the research implementation, client data, timeline for delivery, etc. In order to meet demand and provide consistently high-quality outputs, we apply creative thinking and an analytical approach to finding solutions. We believe in lateral and divergent thinking, rigorous observation, brainstorming, testing, experimenting, questioning, persistence, and negotiation.
• 5 – Work Ethic: Work ethic permeates every decision taken in the professional landscape, as we interact with co-workers, prioritize tasks, or manage relationships with external partners or suppliers. It is defined by a belief in the importance of our work and its ability to enact change for the better. Demonstrating work ethic is possible by practicing integrity, responsibility, discipline, professionalism, planning, goal-setting, and dependability.
• 6 – Attention to Detail: Working efficiently and productively is only possible with time management and attention to detail; this allows us to be both thorough and accurate in our work and save time on edits. This is possible with critical observation, focus, rigor, memory, commitment, dedication, analysis, active listening, acuity, and scheduling.

As applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Data Privacy Statement

As part of Busara’s recruitment process, personal information provided by an applicant through various means will be collected and stored. This includes but is not limited to the information which the candidate provides to Busara in their application and profile, any data from role assessments, interviews information including video interviews and data provided to us by your referees. This data will be used to evaluate the application, communicate with the candidate, and where a candidate has selected this option, for future recruitment opportunities. All this information will be treated as part of each job application record and only retained for the required record retention period.

By choosing to apply for this position at Busara, you are giving Busara your consent to process your personal data as described above. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal information is secure.